No celebration, no glittering prize

It's complicated, is what. The biopsy results have come back benign, but my vet feels that the results are incompatible with Spike's x-rays. He's asking the path lab to recheck their results, and he's going to spend the weekend researching what to do next. I'm to phone him on Monday and we'll decide what to do. Meanwhile he has more antibiotics to control the infection that keeps dying down and resurging. It's having a resurge day today and his gums are swollen and bothering him.

The vet says he's never seen anything quite like it and doesn't really know what it is or what to do about it at this stage. Whatever it is, it's big; all I can see is a polyp-like thing on the roof of Spike's mouth but the vet says it extends right up into his nasal cavity and all that complicated maze of bone and tissue in there. That's why it can't simply be cut out of him; he'd have to lose his nose and that isn't an option even if the vet were willing to try.

What we are probably looking at is a referral to an oncologist or other specialist. I'm sure you already knew this but I set it out in black and white: I am entirely committed to whatever the hell it takes to sort this shit out and make my dog well, or if he can't be made well, to keep him happy and functional as long as possible. Preferably longer.

"You could be looking at a thousand pounds. Is he insured?" said the vet. And I laughed out loud, because while Spike is not insured (medical insurance would make us ineligible for treatment by the PDSA and we could never afford it anyway) I do in fact have a thousand pounds.

That's the entire total of my DWP back pay which I've not really spent any of yet except for groceries. So I don't get to buy a new office chair, a new bed, a Roomba or an ice cream maker. But I have Spike covered; and if I hadn't gone through the hell of the last few months, I wouldn't.

Please keep praying and sending good thoughts for my Spike. Also, if you feel like it and can spare it, please donate something to the PDSA, without whom I and thousands of others like me wouldn't be able to keep pets in good health and good conscience.

Thank you.

No celebration, no glittering prize

It's complicated, is what. The biopsy results have come back benign, but my vet feels that the results are incompatible with Spike's x-rays. He's asking the path lab to recheck their results, and he's going to spend the weekend researching what to do next. I'm to phone him on Monday and we'll decide what to do. Meanwhile he has more antibiotics to control the infection that keeps dying down and resurging. It's having a resurge day today and his gums are swollen and bothering him.

The vet says he's never seen anything quite like it and doesn't really know what it is or what to do about it at this stage. Whatever it is, it's big; all I can see is a polyp-like thing on the roof of Spike's mouth but the vet says it extends right up into his nasal cavity and all that complicated maze of bone and tissue in there. That's why it can't simply be cut out of him; he'd have to lose his nose and that isn't an option even if the vet were willing to try.

What we are probably looking at is a referral to an oncologist or other specialist. I'm sure you already knew this but I set it out in black and white: I am entirely committed to whatever the hell it takes to sort this shit out and make my dog well, or if he can't be made well, to keep him happy and functional as long as possible. Preferably longer.

"You could be looking at a thousand pounds. Is he insured?" said the vet. And I laughed out loud, because while Spike is not insured (medical insurance would make us ineligible for treatment by the PDSA and we could never afford it anyway) I do in fact have a thousand pounds.

That's the entire total of my DWP back pay which I've not really spent any of yet except for groceries. So I don't get to buy a new office chair, a new bed, a Roomba or an ice cream maker. But I have Spike covered; and if I hadn't gone through the hell of the last few months, I wouldn't.

Please keep praying and sending good thoughts for my Spike. Also, if you feel like it and can spare it, please donate something to the PDSA, without whom I and thousands of others like me wouldn't be able to keep pets in good health and good conscience.

Thank you.